Looking For feedback on Insurance companies...

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BlackMetal
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Hello everyone, I am researching insurance companies and would like some target feedback on who/what companies are good to deal with decent rates for what ya get etc etc...
over the years i have heard complaints about progressive, state farm, geico etc...
I would really appreciate your participation. it up to you if you want to include your age if you are paying a high premium bc of it...
we have been using Liberty mutual for over 20 years and they are not that attractive with their rates for our age and years of service. The representative let it slip out that the "new" customers get the deals and breaks while the continuing customers foot their difference... time to find a new insurance company...Thanks...BlackMetal...

How are?:
Nationwide
Progressive
State farms
Geico
Allstate
Cure
other


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ProudNissanFreak
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You're probably going to get more responses in Gen Chat. I'll move it there.

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frapjap
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Insurance sucks- they all have their horror stories and while I've only had one company since I've been driving (10 yrs) the best rates for the service and bang for the buck seems to come from Allstate- but this is my opinion. Their commercials and advertisements seem to be aimed at an older demographic looking to cover multiple investments- car, house, life, renters, etc- and their best rates come from bundling all of your insurance needs with them vs others. Discounts are pretty decent, too.

I also prefer to use a larger company because they have the most to lose should you have a particularly awful problem or experience with them and their service should you decide to expose it and go public on them and garner bad attention. Another reason I keep Allstate is that I also prefer to have the ability to form a relationship with my insurance agent and their office- something you can't really do with Progressive or Geico. having a person who knows you and who you are is important to me.

I've never held insurance with other companies, but from friends and family who have switched from company to company over the years for various reasons, I feel that I'm pretty well taken care of with Allstate.

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Ace2cool
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Got Geico.

21 years old. 2 speeding tickets on record. May actually be 3. 2 300ZX's, one non-turbo 2+2 T-top with liability only, the other Twin-Turbo 2 seater T top with full coverage. $114/mo. Honestly not bad at all. They're terrible for motorcycles, however. They wanted to charge $250 a month JUST for a Ninja ZX6-R. Not happening, especially when all the other companies quoted me ~$55/mo for the motorcycle.

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Jesda
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I saved 50% by switching to GMAC.

State Farm wanted to charge me $2400/yr for liability on two old cars. Geico and Progressive wanted $1400. GMAC wanted $700.

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AppleBonker
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State Farm has been exceptional for me. I've had to use my policy a few times (car vandalized, car stolen) and they were a pleasure to work with. My rates are somehow cheaper than my girl's and she's got a cheaper car and is a female. :gotme

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darens13
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i just recently got pregressive. its less than $50 per month for liability for my 240 and my pickup, not bad.

my family had farmers for ever 20 years, my mom got 1 ticket in that time and it was a few months ago, i got 3 last year that were for riding my friends atv (no atv sticker, no atv operators permit, and they said we were on unmarked trails, hmmm) and farmers dropped our whole family.

when i got progressive i asked about my atv tickets and if they would effect my insurance, they guy said no. i thought that was really weird.

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Zydeco
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I had nationwide for a few years. There rates kept being raised on me so I left. and got my car insurance through my local credit union. I want form paying 200 a month to like 125.

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C-Kwik
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Asking about premiums from various carriers is generally worthless. Insurance companies that save some people money may not save other people money. Insurance companies try to balance their risk portfolio and will offer better rates (normalizing for the individual risks) to those they want to attract more than they will for those they don't want as much risk in. So the best thing to do is figure out which companies you would consider from a customer service and coverage standpoint, then get quotes from each and compare.

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Bubba1
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Zydeco wrote:I had nationwide for a few years. There rates kept being raised on me so I left. and got my car insurance through my local credit union. I want form paying 200 a month to like 125.

The last two times my Altima was hit (other driver's fault), the other drivers had NJ Manufacturers, and I had zero problems getting my claims handled. The body shop I used told me he liked dealing with them too.

I had been using the same insurance agent (an independant) for many years, which has worked well for me. I have had policies with Farmers and Grange, but I had no claims with them. I switched away from each of them when they each tried to significantly bump up my rates. I'm currently with Traveller's, but it's hard to judge them without claims.

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sbird1
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I'm boycotting all things The Hartford after they continuously tried to screw me over for less than half of what the final settlement was. Just FYI.

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Jesda
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I can tell you from the people who have hit me that Progressive and Geico are the most pleasant to deal with. Their customer service departments are both staffed by Americans. GMAC uses Indians, which is probably why I save 50%.


SAFECO CAN BURN IN HELL.

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aidan80
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I've been with State Farm since I've been driving in the US, about 3 and a half years or so. I'm 30, no accidents and no tickets ever. I've got full coverage in Florida costs me $98 per month. Although it seems they keep bumping this up a few % ever 6 months or so. I have shopped around with the other companies but they seem to either match the price of State Farm or be almost the same.

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Kompresshun
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We're with USAA and we pay roughly $140 a month for full coverage on both of our vehicles. We switched to them after them offering us a lower rate than Progressive, when Progressive had tried to jack our rate up considerably for the second time in a year. It's nice because we bank with them and have our homeowners with them as well, so everything is bundled together.

We had been with Progressive for 4 years but when they tried to jack our rate up, and weren't willing to discount our rate this time, so we decided to move on. We had a small accident in our QX4, which didn't damage the other persons vehicle, but did nearly $2,000 worth of damage to our vehicle, thanks to it damaging the grille, headlight, hood, and bumper just enough. Thanks to that, they didn't consider it to be a "small accident", so we weren't covered under the "small accident forgiveness". I understand having the jack up the rate, but this was the first accident that either of us have had in years, and they weren't willing to budge on the rate, so we decided to switch. What really upset me though is that they treated my wife like a stupid child, when she called to cancel our policy. They were basically like "Well fine, if you want to cancel it then go ahead, but you're not gonna find a better rate", USAA saved us $70-80 a month on our policy for the same coverage.

I don't mind switching around though, as long as it's a reputable company, with good coverage, and reasonable rates. I imagine we'll stick with USAA for quite a while though, because they offer us discounts for already having services through them as well.

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AZ89two4Tsx
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I'm on my parents' State Farm plan. They've been with them for 20+ years.

I'm 17 and we pay less than $70 a month for liability on my V8 Red 6-speed BMW. Haha. About the same price when I had my 240 as well.

I would say go with State Farm, but I think more importantly is to stick with the company you go with. I hear Hagerty is good insurance too.

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PapaSmurf2k3
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Had nationwide, they jacked up my prices randomly, so I dumped them for Geico. Esurance was $1 cheaper per billing cycle, but I like Geico's commercials better so I went with them.
I pay $435 every 6 months for all 3 of my cars combined, and I have a metric butt ton of speeding tickets.

Geico also pretended that I had full coverage when a d!ck decided to tow my miata and drag the front end on the ground all the way to the impound lot. This enabled me to get their insurance information from them, which ultimately got me nothing... but still, they wouldn't give it to me before Geico stepped in.

seyath
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BlackMetal wrote:Hello everyone, I am researching insurance companies and would like some target feedback on who/what companies are good to deal with decent rates for what ya get etc etc...
over the years i have heard complaints about progressive, state farm, geico etc...
I would really appreciate your participation. it up to you if you want to include your age if you are paying a high premium bc of it...
we have been using Liberty mutual for over 20 years and they are not that attractive with their rates for our age and years of service. The representative let it slip out that the "new" customers get the deals and breaks while the continuing customers foot their difference... time to find a new insurance company...Thanks...BlackMetal...

How are?:
Nationwide
Progressive
State farms
Geico
Allstate
Cure
other
Hey, i work for Liberty Mutual in NJ. The rep who told you that he couldn't review your policy because you are not a new customer is an imbecile. Send me a PM, I'll take a look at your policy and see what can be done bro.

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nissangirl74
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- Never had Nationwide but when shopping around, they have never been competitive price-wise.

- I had Progressive for years. I had three claims with them, one my fault, two not. The claims were always solved in a timely manner with no drama. These have absolutely THE BEST customer service in the business. No contest. In 2008, they raised their rates across the board, pretty significantly. I switched to the company that insured my house.

- I never had State Farm. From peers who have, I heard they were really fantastic if you don't have claims, but if you ever have to use them, they can be a real PITA to deal with. That's all hearsay, but I've heard that story from A LOT of different people all over the country.

- I had a horrible experience with Geico. My ex-husband wrecked my car. We called Geico and they asked for us to have it hauled to our house which we did. It took several days for an agent to make it out. He said it was totalled and that they would be getting back in touch with us. That was July 6th. It sat in our back year until THANKSGIVING. A tow truck showed up and I sent them packing. I contacted Geico and had it out with them. They used us as a storage facility and I told them they would pay me for that service or I would file a claim against them in court for the title and ownership of the car. (Abandoned vehicle.) They ended up paying me more for storage fees than they did for the car. I won, but it was a b**** to get them to play ball. Summary: Their claims service sucks, their customer service sucks and their rates are usually mediocre at best.

-Never had Allstate but I have a good friend that did and had a hell of a time with them. She ended up switching to State Farm.

- We have Liberty Mutual. They cover all of our DD and our house. Hagerty covers the classics. I would suggest you contact "seyath" and let him look at your policy because NO ONE in the business has been able to give us a better rate than Liberty Mutual.

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bcar240
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Really, it's hard to compare between states because it matters a lot what state you are in. I just changed a vehicle from Alabama to Kentucky, and my rates (for the exact same coverage with the same company) went from $45/mo to $78/mo just because of the insurance laws in KY. I went through it with the agent line by line and it was legit, insurance in some places is just higher.

I went with State Farm because I called a few companies and they had the best multi-line/multi-car discount for me, I also have renters. It saves me like $340 a year. They were even able to find a way to allow me to keep my multi-car discount when I had to move one car to a different agent in KY (KY forced me to have their insurance because that car is registered to my parents who live there.)
nissangirl74 wrote:but if you ever have to use them, they can be a real PITA to deal with
My theory is that this is due to you having a local agent, who can do a lot to help you out, but their claims system is a company-wide centralized process that is almost completely separate from the agent. I had to deal with their regional claims center once though. I quickly learned if this one woman answered the phone to just hang up and call back later. She always seemed pissed and kept trying to force me to pay for stuff out of pocket. I felt afterward that I had to do a lot more of the work than I felt like I should have had to be doing (what I am paying them for after all). It was also going to be very difficult for me to buy back the vehicle, but I didn't push it since I just went over the shop it was at and took off what I wanted before it disappeared. But I decided to stick with them because they gave me a ridiculously high amount for the vehicle and their discounted rates were almost unbeatable.

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RCA
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BlackMetal wrote:Hello everyone, I am researching insurance companies and would like some target feedback on who/what companies are good to deal with decent rates for what ya get etc etc...
New Jersey Manufacturers are the best car insurance co. in NJ.

At the end of every year they send a check to all the people they cover if they claim more money than to pay out for that year. Great customer service and if you have a good record they're prices are amazing. My record wasn't very good at an early point and it was cheaper to move else where. My parents pay something like $300 a year for a salvaged 2003 350z touring and a base model 2006 Altima.

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GrilledCheese33
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I have been with travelers ever since I started driving. They rock. Their rates are very reasonable, I was paying $60 a month for full coverage on my wrx. I totaled the wrx and they were amazing in the claim process. I had a check for my car in 1.5 weeks after the accident. The adjusters were very friendly and when they said they would call me back to update me, sure enough I had a phone call. They even called me late on a saturday to agree on an amount for the car and cut me a check. I now pay $85 a month due to the accident claim, but thats reasonable imo. Rates are irrelevant to other people, but honestly I won't be insured with anyone else unless they do something stupid.

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Jesda
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I forgot I had travelers. They were dirt cheap. I bought my policy through an agency that shared its space with a chinese restaurant in the ghetto.

Edit: No, it was Traders, not Travelers, a regional company http://www.tradersauto.com/

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marlin29311
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Posting what you pay for car insurance is pretty much meaningless to the next person. All major insurance carriers use multi-variate pricing models that account for things such as age, marital status, loss/violation history, territory, base rating, vehicle/household compositions, and a slew of other things.

The best way to choose a carrier is to look for claims experiences (as many have noted here so far), and then quote everyone that you like. You should also be cognicent of the coverages afforded - some carriers offer agreed value on your car (ie, you say how much it's worth), while the vast majority will give you actual cash value (or market value) for your car. There's also rental reimbursement, towing, glass coverage (usually deductibleless), rental vehicle coverage (so you don't have to buy it at Enterprise or AVIS or whatever), lock replacement, etc.

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orangeNblue
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Can't you just contact Progressive and they'll compare their rates for you with the rates of other major companies?? Just a thought....

I personally have Allstate because when I shopped around they were the cheapest, had trouble with Travelers, and Geico got to be too pricey

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BlackMetal
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great feedback, thank you guys and gals...

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Jesda
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Also, 21st Century sucks. Crap service.

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BlackMetal
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according to their online quote, they were more for less than what I have now, and another company that does 6 month policy`s... good grief... :rolleyes:

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C-Kwik
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marlin29311 wrote:Posting what you pay for car insurance is pretty much meaningless to the next person. All major insurance carriers use multi-variate pricing models that account for things such as age, marital status, loss/violation history, territory, base rating, vehicle/household compositions, and a slew of other things.

The best way to choose a carrier is to look for claims experiences (as many have noted here so far), and then quote everyone that you like. You should also be cognicent of the coverages afforded - some carriers offer agreed value on your car (ie, you say how much it's worth), while the vast majority will give you actual cash value (or market value) for your car. There's also rental reimbursement, towing, glass coverage (usually deductibleless), rental vehicle coverage (so you don't have to buy it at Enterprise or AVIS or whatever), lock replacement, etc.
Pretty much exactly what I said earlier. :)

As far as rental though, if you have a claim with your insurance company and need a rental, even if you don't have the rental car coverage, ask your adjuster to get you the insurance rate through the rental agency. I never had any problem helping my insureds out with this and Enterprise and Hertz never had any issues providing the discount. They don't care who is paying for it and will do this so they are the first you try and set up a rental with on every claim your adjuster needs a rental set-up for (referral).

I should advise that its also okay to ask for a copy of the policy before you purchase insurance. I actually do this to make sure the things that are most important to me are covered the way I'd like. Unless your state requires every company to use a standard policy form, there are differences between policies.

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BlackMetal
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hahaha, some of these quotes I just can not believe! We got a quote from Allstate for less than 1/2 of what we are paying now, and even if it is close to being apples to apples, I think it is just another ploy to get ya in the door with their 6 month policy and wham! gotcha... this is frustrating to say the least...

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BlackMetal
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we were distracted for a while there, but still searching for a better deal as time allows... very time consuming...


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